Nasal injector



April 21, 1953 J. 1'. SMITH NASAL INJECTOR Filed A ril 22, 1950zzvmvrox. JEPTHA T. SM/ TH,

, duce its bore to a small diameter. rowed portion is then bent into ahook form as Patented Apr. 21, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NASALINJECTOR Jeptha T. Smith, St. Louis, Mo.

Application April 22, 1950, Serial No. 157,521

1 Claim.

This invention pertains to a device for applying liquid medicine such asnose drops, adapted to facilitate placing the medicine as near the seatof infection in a nostril as possible.

Medicine bottles for nose drops are usually furnished with a droppertube for dispensing the medicine. However, these are so shaped that inorder to apply the medicine to the nostril the head of the patient mustbe thrown back very far or some other posture assumed which willpractically invert the nostril from its normal position. Even in such aposition when the medicine is dropped from the dropper it often runs outwithout reaching the seat of the infection.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device whereby themedicine may be applied by injecting it in a strong jet upward into thenostril so that it will be forcibly projected into the upper nasalpassages where the seat of infection usually lies.

In accordance with this invention, generally stated, a dropper tube isreduced in bore at its lower end and bent through substantially 180 to aposition pointing upward in a direction substantially parallel to themain body of the tube. The usual flexible bulb is attached to the tubeso that, with a few drops of medicine in the lower curve of the tube,the tip may be inserted upward into the nostril and then by quickpressure on the bulb the liquid will be ejected from the tube in astrong jet directed upward into the nostril so that it may penetrate theupper passages thereof.

A preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing which represents a vertical section of a medicinebottle equipped with an injector tube embodying this invention.

Referring to the drawing, 8 designates a medicine bottle of the usualtype provided with a screw cap 2 and a gasket 3 which may be of rubberand have formed integral therewith a flexible bulb 4 which, having thinwalls and being unobstructed within, is completely collapsible by fingerpressure thereon.

A medicine tube 5 is secured in the gasket 3 by means of a flange 6 inthe usual manner. Thus the main body portion of the tube 5 extendsvertically downward in the bottle I and provides a reservoir for acharge of medicine. At its lower end it is narrowed so as to re- Thisnarshown, first to one side at I and then to the opposite side throughsubstantially a semicircle, or a little more, at 8. At the end of thelatter curve the dispensing tip 9, which may be straight point in adirection substantiallyparallel toillhfi body portion of the tube.

for a short length, is formed and positioned jtosim Thus the tip 9points nearly vertically upward when said body portion is held independing position, so that the tip may be inserted into a nostrilwithout changing the normal position of the patients head. With the tipso inserted, a quick pressure on the bulb 4 will cause the liquid to beejected from the tip 9 in a strong jet which is projected upward intothe nostril with some force. This causes the medicine to penetratedeeply into the upper nasal passages and thereby to reach infectionswhich would not be reached by the procedures used heretofore.Graduations I0 may be applied to the curve 8 of the tube so that ameasured dose may be injected if desired.

It will be seen that by giving the tube a double bend as described, thecenter of the semicircular bend 8 is brought substantially into the axisof the body portion of the tube 5, sothat the bent portion extends topractically equal distances on opposite sides of said axis. This makesit possible to use a smaller bottle I than would be required if thewhole bend were on one side of the axis of the tube 5, which is also theaxis of the bottle. The bore of, the tip 9 should be small in order toform a strong jet. It has been found that, with a bulb 4 of the usualsize, a bore of about 3% inch diameter forms a very satisfactory jet.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the details ofconstruction, within the scope of the appended claim, without departingfrom the spirit of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

In combination with a medicine bottle, a liquid-medicine dispensercomprising, an injection tube having a flexible bulb fixed to one endthereof and secured in a cap for said bottle, the other end of said tubebeing reduced in bore and bent to hook form with the center of the hookcurve substantially in the axis of said tube so that the bent portionextends substantially equal distances on opposite sides of such axis,the tip of said bent portion being pointed in a direction along andsubstantially parallel to the unbent portion of said tube, said hookportion of said tube being small enough to pass freely through the neckof said medicine bottle, and said bulb being completely collapsible toapply a strong jet-producing pressure to a charge of liquid in saidtube.

J EPTHA T. SMITH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 158,564 Barnes Jan. 12, 1875 694,530 Comer Mar. 4, 1902FOREIGN PATENTS Number 7 Country Date GreatBritam Mar. 20, 1909

